Cuba Regime Supporters Caught Off Guard with Reaction to Fanjul Story

Cuba Regime Supporters Caught Off Guard with Reaction to Fanjul Story

I thought the Fanjul Cuba story would be a blip on the political radar. This one appears to have a shelf life beyond the normal news cycle. A lot has been said the last week about US-Cuba policy, especially by opponents of current law. Why? Because they do not have the votes in Congress to change it.

When it comes to Cuba, they are of the generation that plans to return only “cuando se vayan aquellos,” i.e. when the Castros have gone. That generation has put legislation on the books that quite literally prevents the United States from normalizing relations until those two have indeed gone.

Helms-Burton became law because Jorge Mas-Canosa, just about single-handedly, as well as the families of the three Americans and one US resident murdered by the Castro regime, pushed the Bill Clinton to sign the bipartisan bill.

The Fanjuls were nowhere to be seen during that political battle. In fact, their only goal at the time, and has been since, is the preservation of sugar subsidies and related matters. Cuba has never really ranked as a priority issue.

Take the passage of the CAFTA-DR trade bill. Folks in the know, will tell you that the Fanjuls were very upset that President Bush and the Ways and Means Committee were pressing for a puny 1% tariff reduction for Caribbean and Central American sugar. They sure knew how to speak up then.